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Tzipi Livni
Date of birth	8 July 1958 (1958-07-08) (age 49)
Knesset(s)	15th, 16th, 17th (current)
Party	Kadima
Former parties	Likud
Gov't roles (current in bold)	Acting Prime Minister Minister of Foreign Affairs Minister of Justice Minister of Regional Cooperation Minister of Agriculture     & Rural Development Minister without Portfolio Minister of Immigrant Absorption Minister of Housing & Construction

U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney meets with Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tzipi Livni, at the White House.

Tzipora Malka "Tzipi" Livni (Hebrew: ציפורה מלכּה "ציפי" לבני‎, born July 8, 1958 in Tel Aviv, Israel) is Foreign Affairs Minister, Acting Prime Minister of Israel, and a leading member of the Kadima party.^[1][2]

After the March 2006 Knesset election, Livni was described as "the second most powerful politician in Israel."^[3] Livni is the second woman in Israel to hold the post of foreign minister, after Golda Meir. In 2007, she was included in the Time 100 Most Influential People in the World.^[4]

Born in Tel Aviv,^[5] Livni is the daughter of Eitan Livni,^[6] a Polish-born former Irgun^[7] member and Likud member of the Knesset.^[8] Her mother, Sara (nee Rosenberg) also fought in the Irgun. Eitan and Sara Livni were the first couple to marry in the newly-declared State of Israel.^[9] Tzipi Livni served as a lieutenant in the Israel Defense Forces and worked for the Mossad for four years during the early 1980s. A graduate of Bar Ilan University's Faculty of Law, she has experience as a practicing lawyer, specializing in public and commercial law. ^[10]Livni resides in Tel Aviv. She is married to accountant Naftali Spitzer (Shpitzer) and has two children, Omri and Yuval. According to her childhood friend Mirla Gal, Livni is a vegetarian. ^[11] She has also helped pass a bill that bans animal abuse.^{[citation needed]} Livni speaks Hebrew, English and French.

Livni was first elected to the Knesset as a member of the Likud party in 1999. When Likud leader Ariel Sharon became prime minister in July 2001, Livni was appointed Minister of Regional Cooperation, and thereafter held various Cabinet positions including Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Minister of Immigrant Absorption and Minister of Housing and Construction. ^[12] She received the Abirat Ha-Shilton ("Quality of Governance") award for 2004. On 1 October 2005, she was appointed Minister of Justice after several months acting in that position. ^[13]

In Sharon's Cabinet, Livni was an avid supporter of the prime minister's disengagement plan and was generally considered to be among the key dovish members of the Likud party. She often mediated between hawkish and dovish elements inside the party, and gained publicity for her successful efforts to have the pullout from the Gaza Strip ratified by the Knesset. On 12 November 2005, she became the first member of the Israeli right-wing to speak at the official yearly commemoration of Yitzhak Rabin's assassination.

On November 20, 2005, Livni followed Sharon and Olmert into the new Kadima Party. Ahead of the 28 March elections Livni was appointed to be the new Foreign Minister, while continuing to serve as Justice Minister, as a result of the mass resignation of Likud Party members from the government.

In the selection of candidates for the March 2006 Knesset election, Livni was awarded the number three position on Kadima's list of candidates, which effectively guaranteed her election to the Knesset.

On 4 May 2006, with the swearing-in of the 31st Government, Livni became Vice (or Deputy) Prime Minister and retained the position of Foreign Minster. She ceased serving as Justice Minister at that time, but again held that position from 29 November 2006 to 7 February 2007, while still serving in her primary role of Foreign Minister.

Livni became the first Israeli cabinet minister to explicitly differentiate Palestinian guerrilla attacks against Israeli military targets from terrorist attacks against civilians. In an interview on the US television news show Nightline, recorded on 28 March 2006, Livni stated:

"Somebody who is fighting against Israeli soldiers is an enemy and we will fight back, but I believe that this is not under the definition of terrorism, if the target is a soldier."

On March 11, 2007, Livni held secret meetings with two senior Palestinian leaders - Fatah's Yasser Abed Rabbo and former finance minister Salam Fayyad, who left Fatah to form the Third Way party. According to Israel Radio, Livni discussed possible future negotiations and the Arab initiative.

On May 2, 2007 Livni called for the resignation of Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert in the wake of the publication of the Winograd Commission's interim report. She has offered herself as leader of the Kadima Party if Olmert decides to step down. ^[14] However, her call was ignored by Olmert and her decision to stay in the Cabinet sparked some controversy.^{[citation needed]}

1. ^ Government 31 The Knesset
2. ^ Kadima Party. Retrieved on 2007-05-06.
3. ^ Tzipi Livni Named Vice Premier in Israel. Washington Post. Retrieved on 2007-04-30.
4. ^ Condoleezza Rice. Tzipi Livni. Time. Retrieved on 2007-06-10.
5. ^ Next in Line. Retrieved on 2007-05-06.
6. ^ Knesset Members Family Ties. Retrieved on 2007-05-06.
7. ^ Eitan Livni Biography. Retrieved on 2007-05-06.
8. ^ Eital Livni, Knesset Member. Retrieved on 2007-05-06.
9. ^ http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/910716.html
10. ^ Tzipi Livni Knesset Biography. Retrieved on 2007-05-06.
11. ^ Cohen, Roger (2007-07-07). Her Jewish State. New York Times. Retrieved on 2007-08-07. “Mirla Gal, who would reach the top of the Mossad during a 20-year career, met Livni in first grade. [...] “We were curious because her world wasn’t ours,” Gal said over lunch at a beachfront Tel Aviv restaurant. “Even then she was principled. When I was 12, she turned vegetarian and has been ever since.””
12. ^ Tzipi Livni Government Roles. Retrieved on 2007-05-06.
13. ^ Behind the Lines: And who, may we ask, is Tzipi Livni? Jerusalem Post, Accessed 30 April 2007
14. ^ Olmert's Survival Prospects Dim Amid Livni Challenge Bloomberg, May 3 2007

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Tzipi Livni

Wikinews has related news:

Tzipi Livni

• Tzipi Livni on the official Knesset website (in English)
• BBC profile
• Livni's charm is gone, Eitan Haber, http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3396286,00.html

Justice Ministers of Israel v • d • e

Rosen (three times) • Yosef (twice) • Cohen • Ben-Gurion • Shapiro (twice) • Meir (twice) • Tzadok • Begin • Tamir • Nissim • Moda'i • Sharir • Meridor • Libai • Neeman • Netanyahu • Hanegbi • Beilin • Sheetrit (twice) • Lapid • Livni (twice) • Ramon • Friedmann

Foreign Affairs Ministers of Israel v • d • e

Sharett • Meir • Eban • Allon • Dayan • Shamir • Peres • Arens • Levy • Peres • Barak • Levy • Sharon • Levy • Ben-Ami • Peres • Netanyahu • Shalom • Livni